


just close your eyes and see

by el_em_en_oh_pee



Series: tumblr "drabbles" [6]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cisswap, F/F, Ice Skating, girl!direction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 12:33:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7532962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_em_en_oh_pee/pseuds/el_em_en_oh_pee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis laughs, snapping her gum as she watches Harry try to pull herself up from the ice rink again. “Didn’t you run, like, thirty simulations of the centrifugal force of the spin to make sure you understood the turn or whatever?” she asks, bunching her hair into a ponytail and winding an elastic around it. She executes a perfect turn. Harry glares.</p>
<p>“With my knowledge and understanding of the physics of skating,” she says, “You’d think I’d be a lot better at it. And it’s centripetal force.”</p>
<p>An Ice Princess AU(ish)</p>
            </blockquote>





	just close your eyes and see

Louis laughs, snapping her gum as she watches Harry try to pull herself up from the ice rink again. “Didn’t you run, like, thirty simulations of the centrifugal force of the spin to make sure you understood the turn or whatever?” she asks, bunching her hair into a ponytail and winding an elastic around it. She executes a perfect turn. Harry glares.

“With my knowledge and understanding of the physics of skating,” she says, “You’d think I’d be a lot better at it. And it’s centripetal force.”

“Whatever,” says Louis. She reaches forward and helps Harry up, skates in close to help brush ice flakes off with a cheeky swipe at Harry’s bum. At least, Harry assumes there are ice flakes there. You never can tell with Louis. “You know what you should do?”

“What’s that?” Harry asks. She straightens her skirt, which has ridden up her tights with her tumble. 

“Ask Liam for help,” Louis says, a wicked glint in her eye. “You know she’s a really great skater.”

“So are you,” Harry says, because Louis is her best friend and Harry is nothing if not loyal, but also because every time she finds herself in front of Liam her mouth goes dry and she ends up mumbling something about scented candles or losing a shoe in the rink’s locker room.

“Nice try,” Louis says, laughing. “Now’s your chance.” And she skates off quickly, doing a perfect double axel, sticking her tongue out in Harry’s general direction all the while.

Harry is coordinated enough to reach the side of the rink without falling, probably, but she’s also a bit notorious for being brilliant-yet-clumsy. Niall, who usually works the concession stand but who comes out for free skate every once in a while, and Zayn, who drives the zamboni and doesn’t generally make a habit of physical exertion but who has a Niall-exception the size of bloody Ireland, are sat giggling at the edge of the rink, gloved hands linked, Niall’s head leaning agains Zayn’s shoulder, their long hair tangling. They also know about Harry’s hopeless crush on Liam, because Harry enjoys lamenting that a girl like Liam probably has a really buff boyfriend whenever all four of them are at the pub together. “Hey, Leemo,” Niall calls, lifting her head up from Zayn’s shoulder briefly. “Help our Harry out? Get her to the exit in one piece?”

Niall is possibly Harry’s least favourite friend. She flips Niall off casually-yet-subtly, and then forces a grin on when Liam skates up. 

“Saw you trying that turn,” Liam says, smiling. Her hair is in a ponytail and her mascara makes her lashes look really, really long, and she’s got the most fascinatingly thick eyebrows Harry has ever seen. Harry really wants to know how smooth Liam’s legs are under her knit tights, how tight her abs are under the cute little bustier of her costume. “You’ve got the right idea about it.”

“I mean,” Harry says. “According to my calculations, if I press my chin in more — but I keep tripping over my feet.”

“Saw that too,” Liam says, a pretty glint in her eyes. She rests a hand on the small of Harry’s back, and Harry suddenly feels like she may fall over again, even though Liam is the best skater she’s ever met — no. Second-best. Louis would never forgive her for relegating her to anything but first place. “Steady, Haz.”

Harry’s heart flutters at the nickname. “I could run some simulations for you,” she offers. “Not that you’re not a great skater! You’re wonderful! But I know you’re competing this year, so maybe —”

“Sure,” Liam says, laughing a little brightly. Harry’s not sure whether she’s imagining it - she’s wearing a peacoat, because she gets cold in the rink, probably because of all the time she spends flat on her arse on the ice - but she thinks Liam squeezes her waist gently. “Only if you let me show you a few balance tricks, though.”

“I’d like that,” Harry says, breathlessly, twisting her head a little so she can see Liam’s expression, which is soft and fond.

And then, of course, Harry’s left blade goes over a nick in the ice, because Zayn is the laziest fucking zamboni driver in the world, and she starts to fall. And of course she pulls Liam with her, because that is just her luck.

Harry ends up on her side, wincing as her hip bangs hard against the ice - she’s already got a bruise there; it’ll only get bigger and more ferocious now - with Liam half-on top of her. Their legs are tangled together. Harry’s buttercup-yellow cabled tights are a nice contrast to Liam’s baby blue ones, and Liam is half on top of her, which is two nice things, but she also made Liam fall because she stumbled over a little nick in the ice, which is not as much of a nice thing. “Sorry,” she says, wincing a little. She goes to rest a hand on Liam’s back reassuringly, but it lands on her bum instead of the small of her back. Harry winces and quickly moves her hand upward. “Sorry,” she repeats.

“No, it’s cool,” Liam says. She’s laughing a little, breathlessly, puffs of visible vapour forming with each little exhale. Her lip gloss is understated, a sheer coral, but this close, Harry can see flecks of golden glitter in it. She wants to know if it tastes like anything - maybe a warm citrussy vanilla, if Liam’s smell is anything to go by. Her eyes are big and brown and squinting with mirth, and Harry just likes her so, so much.

“Cool,” she says, a little belatedly, and reaches to tuck a tendril of Liam’s hair that’s tugged loose of her ponytail behind her ear, like the chump that Harry undoubtedly is. 

Liam’s smile gets even wider, somehow, full lips pulling tight against her teeth. Harry wants so, so much to kiss her.

“Liam,” she says, well aware that Zayn and Niall are watching them, and that Louis probably is, too, if she’s stopped doing all of those ridiculous show-offy jumps to get her assistant trainer, Nick, to notice her long enough to see that Liam is sprawled out half-on top of Harry on the ice, warming one side while her other one gets slowly numb with cold. Harry’s always prided herself on being able to pull boys and girls easily. She’s generally been in control of all flirting situations, but she also generally doesn’t have this much of a crush on the person she’s trying to flirt with. Oh, well. There’s a first time for anything. “I kind of would really love to kiss you.”

“Really?” Liam asks, looking very surprised indeed. “I mean, I was hoping so, but - really?”

“Yeah,” Harry says, and moves her gloved hand slowly up Liam’s back and wraps her fingers around Liam’s ponytail gently, uses the leverage to draw Liam’s face down lower, so that she can crane up and suck Liam’s very full lower lip into her mouth in a proper ice-rink kind of snog.

Liam’s lip gloss, as it turns out, is flavourless, and ends up all over Harry’s mouth.

(When they finally stand up and start to make their way off the rink several minutes later, it’s to Zayn and Niall whooping and Louis catcalling from across the ice.)

**Author's Note:**

> [original post](http://dulosis.tumblr.com/post/68435441445/lirry-ice-princess-then)


End file.
